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Lack of local bylaws deplored

August 11, 2016   ·   0 Comments

The following open letter to David Crombie, chair, advisory committee and Bill Mauro, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs, was submitted for publication:

In June, 2006, the Ontario Provincial Government put out a glossy publication which landed in my rural country mail box. It was about The Greater Golden Horseshoe, an interesting name, which apparently encompassed my area up here on the Niagara Escarpment just outside of the town of Orangeville and others as well, beyond what is now the Greater Toronto Area. This folder extolled the beauty of these areas, encouraging people to consider moving beyond the GTA, emphasizing that moving to these new areas would be a safe place to live and in which to raise children.

In that same year, on November 5th at approximately 2:45 p.m., in the Simcoe County Forest, our friend, Marianne Schmid, went for her daily walk. She was shot and killed by a deer hunter, who “heard a noise” after seeing a buck he wanted to take down. “It was a hunting accident” the police said. That year, hunting season had been put forward one week, something that Marianne and no doubt many others, were unaware of at the time.

What city people don’t realize and what the Provincial Government may not realize is that deer hunting is allowed in most of, if not all of Dufferin County where I live. Certainly, it is not controlled here in Mono which I discovered when I moved here 28 years ago.

While the Provincial Government may be encouraging people to move north, west and east into the Greater Golden Horseshoe, what they do not or may not realize is that as these places were mainly rural, the bylaws of these municipalities remain mainly rural as well to this day, 2016.

Following Marianne’s death I asked to speak before Mono Council. Although many hunters are respectful of No Trespassing or No Hunting signs, some are not. I asked if there was some way of controlling the areas in which deer hunting was allowed, suggesting that perhaps by contacting our local Dufferin Northern Peel Anglers’ & Hunters’ Association, who run very thorough training courses for people wishing to take out hunting licences, asking if they might consider taking over the job of securing permission from landowners of certain large tracts of land here in Mono for people to legally hunt deer on their lands. These areas could then be secured by signage warning residents that hunting was going on within these properties.

Mono Council disregarded this suggestion and so today, when I hear the first gunshot of hunting season, I do not walk out on my 10 acres of land and I keep our dogs close to home, nor do I walk the country roads during this time. I know from personal experience that there are hunters who do respect landowners wishes and who do not hunt where they are not welcome but city dwellers have no idea, when they move into areas such as mine, that there are no protective bylaws limiting where people can hunt deer and shoot off shotguns.

The Greater Golden Horseshoe is indeed becoming more residential, people are moving up from the city and the GTA and it is important for the Provincial Government to realize that the local municipality bylaws are not keeping up with this growth. The GGH is not an entirely safe place in which to live and raise children contrary to the Government’s publicity folder promoting these areas. And there are other concerns as well.

The increased growth in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the areas surrounding the GTA, is now adding increased costs to the infrastructure of these areas which were formerly small Ontario towns and farmland surrounding these towns. New housing developments are springing up, traffic congestion each morning and evening on Hwy. 10 and Airport Road is now evidence that this area is a commuter area to the city and the GTA. How much of this impact is the Provincial Government going to assume financially and locally and how much awareness does the Provincial Government have of the local municipal bylaws which do not protect citizens from a lack of hunting bylaws and which are lacking bylaws in other ways as well. When city people move into what was formerly a small town or the country in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, along with these moves comes certain expectations as well.

When my late in-laws, Maude and Ed Small, moved from their farm in Mono to Toronto in the 1920’s, Dufferin County was largely farmland. The bylaws which have been in place for many years reflected this. However, we are living in a time of growth and change, these bylaws are becoming less effective in coping with this present growth and do not always address residents needs. Mono Council has announced recently that it will schedule a town hall meeting sometime this coming fall as part of a move to increase “citizen engagement” in Mono and I’m sure it will be well attended, for there are a number of concerns that have come with this growth of population in our area.

Home ownership today is no longer a right afforded to many; it is a privilege, one that involves a considerable outlay of money and financial commitment on the part of the homeowner. However, when this investment becomes devalued by the condition of a neighbouring property and there are no bylaws in place to protect a resident’s investments, where do we go with our complaints? Certainly without bylaws in place to control the mess that we sometimes find ourselves living next to, the bylaw officer is rendered useless. If people are being encouraged to move into the Greater Golden Horseshoe, they will have certain expectations of how and where they will live.

For example, when I lived in Toronto and renovated a home in the west end of the city, our neighbours were notified of our plans with the choice of objecting or agreeing to them within 150’ of our proposed building. One neighbour objected and we were required to move our garage to a different location on our property. This was a bylaw in place which required notification of neighbouring homeowners. Nothing of this sort exists in the whole of Dufferin County.

At the present time, when a building permit is applied for no neighbour need be notified. While I realize that each person has the right to live on their land and keep their property and home in any manner they choose to do, when that choice affects a neighbouring property and devalues their investment in their home and property, surely some bylaws may be put into place which would require people to keep their properties to a certain standard where they are not infringing on the financial investments of others. And this is not happening, not here in Mono at least.

Mr. Crombie’s report Places To Grow and that of his Advisory Committee is extensive, over 100 pages long. It may be found on the internet and it welcomes feedback. In very small part here is what it says:

“[T]he Ontario government’s program to plan for growth and development in a way that supports economic prosperity, protects the environment and helps communities achieve a high quality of life across the province. Through Places to Grow, we develop regional growth plans that guide government investments and policies. Their mandate is: “to curb urban sprawl, grow the greenbelt, support agriculture and address traffic congestion. Therefore it is important to focus on building complete communities, supporting agriculture, protecting natural and cultural heritage, providing infrastructure, mainstreaming climate change and implementing the plans for the Greater Golden Horseshoe area (GGH)”.

Idealistic expectations from a government which may or may not follow through on their mandate to support growth in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

And so in my feedback questions, I would ask:

• ow much financial support will there be from the Provincial Government regarding the required infrastructure in these newly developing areas in which this growth is slated for?

• s the Provincial Government prepared to support the changes needed in local municipalities regarding their present bylaws which are now limited to how things were before this growth began occurring? And will the new bylaws address the needs of residents and protect their financial investment in these new areas? Will this be a safe place in which to live and raise families?

As is the case with many things in life, until something becomes a personal issue and lands on our own doorstep and impacts more directly upon us, many of us pay little attention to municipal bylaws or the applications for new aggregates or ineffective bylaws and live as best we can within the confines and limitations of present bylaws. If change and growth is to come to the Greater Golden Horseshoe, it involves not only the Ontario Provincial Government but also, local municipal governments and the residents themselves. Being complacent may mean a loss of financial investment in your property because you didn’t care enough to get involved in the changes growth brings with it.

Read Mr. Crombie’s Report, read the Provincial Government’s Greater Golden Horseshoe mandate, become more proactive in these changes. If you care enough about your financial investment in your home and in the safety of raising your children in this beautiful area of the Greater Golden Horseshoe, it is your right to be heard. It is not always with the expectation of being heard.

Sandra Small Proudfoot
Mono, Ontario

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